Mother gets 13 years for baby's death

April 25, 2011

MIAMI (AP) - A Key Largo woman accused of starving her baby to death almost five years ago has been sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Amy Stephenson pleaded no contest to aggravated manslaughter on Monday.

She was previously convicted in 2008 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. That was overturned when the Third District Court of Appeal ruled she didn't get a fair trial. The court decided that questioning her about whether she considered an abortion during her pregnancy and mentioning it during closing arguments prejudiced the jury.

Stephenson's 13-month-old daughter, Jasmine Marie Thomas, died in September 2006 of severe malnutrition. She weighed just 6 pounds, 9 ounces at the time of her death.